The Missing Womens Commission of Inquiry ("Commission") has recommended that, based on community feedback and concerns heard at two pre-hearing conferences in January and through media reports and community organized forums, the Lieutenant Governor in Council grant the Commission the powers of "joint study and hearing commission".

The Commission is of the view that this expanded power to also be a study commission would:

* Allow the Commission to address the concerns of the community by giving the Commission increased flexibility over its process, including the ability to engage directly with the public outside of the formal hearing process,

* Permit the Commission to fashion different forms of participation to participants' interests, abilities and expertise (applicants who may not strictly meet the test for standing in a hearing commission could still be involved in the study portion of its work),

* Allow a more inclusive process and participants could speak to the Commission directly without the formalities of the adversarial process, and

* Enable the Commission to craft a more focused but still thorough, and fair, hearing process.

We share the Commission's interest and goal of accommodating important community concerns through an expanded mandate, in particular:

* The need for an accessible and community-driven process,

* Ensuring vulnerable and marginalized individuals are not discouraged or be made to feel excluded by an overly formal process,

* Ensuring the emotional needs of the victims' families are respected and supported,

* Involving Aboriginal groups in a manner that is culturally sensitive, and

* Giving northern communities affected by the ongoing missing and murdered women investigations from the Highway of Tears an opportunity to participate meaningfully without compromising those investigations.

Our organizations commend and support the Commission's effort to be responsive to the important input of community members. We agree that a flexible and inclusive process will improve the Commission's ultimate recommendations by ensuring the process is:

* Appropriately contextualized,

* Culturally sensitive, and

* Suitable for northern communities affected by the missing and murdered women along the Highway of Tears.

This is a positive development as the Commission is trying to ensure all relevant voices are heard including, most importantly, the victims' families, in an appropriate and respectful manner.

We look forward to the Government of British Columbia's positive response to the Commission's recommendation.